In today's world, the natural and organic food market is increasing and the growth of production has been unable to keep up with demand. For instance, in the United States, sales of organic food and beverages have grown from $1 billion in 1960 to $26.7 billion in 2010. Sales in 2010 represented 7.7% growth over 2009 sales. Organic fruits and vegetables have experienced the highest growth in sales during 2010 up nearly 11.98% over 2009 sales.
In light of these sales, there is concern about shortages in the food supply around the world, particularly with respect to natural and organic foods. Moreover, safe, natural, organic, sustainable and nutritional foods are in severe shortage worldwide. Much of this is due to an increase in the global population, and the United States is not immune to this population growth. There is at least one prediction that a major shortage in the food supply will take place by the year 2050.
To eliminate those natural and organic food shortages, there is a need to establish a position in the market and capture the attention of those that desire these foods and meet their wants and needs. Further, there is a need to be able to produce fruits and vegetables year round, putting food suppliers at an advantage over those that can only grow their fruits and vegetables, for example, three seasons out of the year and/or import them during non-growing periods in their region. Moreover, it is desirable to produce food at prices that are similar to or less than non-organic food prices.